Opinion

It’s time to break the mantra that reducing the sector's climate impact will be costly

The EU has agreed to reduce emissions from all sectors by 2030. If transport would do its fair share, it would need to reduce its emissions by 30% compared to 2005. However, certain policymakers and modellers think the transport sector should be given an easy ride.

The recent news that VW has failed to meet yet another deadline set by the US regulators to fix almost 600,000 of its diesel vehicles equipped with a defeat device has come as no surprise; VW has repeatedly missed deadlines and failed to provide adequate explanations since the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed the carmaker’s cheating last September.

The idea of an electric vehicle (EV) sales quota is gaining momentum. Recently the Netherlands' parliament voted to make 100 per cent of new car sales emissions-free by 2025. Dutch MPs also told the government to make this possible through EU policy - most likely in the form of an EV sales quota for carmakers as part of the next round of car CO2 standards.

Speech delivered by Greg Archer, Clean Vehicles Director, at the Geneva Motor Show on March 1st.

The test procedure T&E has jointly developed with PSA, verified by Bureau Veritas, generates a scientifically robust and reproducible figure for the CO2 emissions of the car representative of a typical driver of the model. It is best practice in measuring fuel economy.

When French investigators swooped on Renault last week to seize computers, it was yet another stark illustration of the systemic failure of car testing in Europe. Their investigation is linked to the Volkswagen emissions scandal, where national testing authorities failed to detect or even investigate the cheating – despite being made aware of the exceptionally high on-road emissions.

The prospect of Volkswagen being fined $18 billion for manipulating air pollution tests in the US caused its shares to fall 22% and is sending shock waves through the automotive industry. VW has been ordered to recall nearly 500,000 cars, meaning a massive bill to correct the vehicles and potential class action claims for compensation. After initially refusing to comment, CEO Winterkorn issued a statement saying he was “very sorry”. The evidence suggests he will not be the last head of a carmaker offering apologies in the next few months as other manufacturers will be found making use of “defeat devices” for tricking laboratory tests.